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Posts tagged ‘comfort food’

Since the day my sister showed me their over the top milkshakes, I have wanted to try this place out. I’m not one to go into a restaurant just to try one thing on the menu; all aspects have to appeal to me in some sense. As per usual, I perused the menu before hand, pegging a few items of interest that I would want to try. I liked that even though they had many experimental and over the top items, there were still some classics on the menu.

We arrived just as the restaurant opened, but it was clear that they had been open earlier than the posted hours of operation. Clearly, this was a very popular place, as we would find out later, this place fills up quickly. Our first order of business was to commandeer a table for our party of four. Despite having chosen a few stand out dishes and milkshakes, I was still overwhelmed by all the choices I had. It ended up being that Val was stuck between choosing the Eureka Burger or the Space Case Burger, both of which I had expressed a desire to try, so we each got one of them and split them in half. Brae went with a more traditionalist approach, or so we thought till the burger came. We thought that Cheeseworld was going to be a cheese bun. No, the “buns” turned out to be full sized grilled cheese sandwiches sandwiching a succulent patty. The last of our party, my cousin, Yulin, ordered the vintage deluxe, another traditional choice. We also ordered an onion ring for the table.

Of the two burgers, the Eureka Burger was more ordinary, but that did not make it any less tasty. The Space Case Burger was from their list of experimental burgers. The Eureka burger, like almost all their burgers consisted of a 6 oz Alberta grassfed beef patty, but this one had been butter spiked. It was then topped off with smoked gouda, thick cut bacon, brioche breaded onion rings, butter lettuce, and tomato relish. Unfortunately, I couldn’t discern all the elements that were listed, in particular the tomato relish, which I could possibly have mistaken as ketchup. The onion ring in the burger was the same as the ones we ordered as side for the table. Both were greasy and after one or two became very heavy and difficult to finish. When the onion rings first came, we thought that it may have been honey drizzled over the rings, but as it turned out, they were pools of oil which detracted from it appetizability. The Space Case Burger was a crab cake patty with space tortilla chip, coleslaw cabbage, citrus aioli, pineapple salsa, and arugula. Unlike the menu, the burger didn’t come topped with a mighty pineapple star. I definitely wasn’t disappointed by this burger. Sure it was hard to eat because of how easily the crab crumbled and it looked funny with the tortilla UFO-esque protrusion, but taste wise it was one of the better burgers. The coleslaw, aioli, and salsa helped to balance out the burger, ensuring that it didn’t feel too greasy or heavy. Both the Vintage Deluxe and Cheeseworld came with cheeky sauce. Besides the interesting name, it was pretty tasty. For those wondering what cheeky sauce is, the easiest description I can give is a garlic aioli and who doesn’t love garlic?

Between the four of us, we only ended up getting one milkshake. And it’s a good thing we shared. Milkshakes have a tendency to be incredibly sweet and this one was. Of all their shakes, we decided to order the Cookie Monster which consisted of a chocolate (I think) shake topped with Oreo cookies and a glazed doughnut. This was definitely more about the experience than the taste. The taste was fine, normal, nothing special. I wouldn’t order it again, but I’m glad that I can at least say I’ve tried it.

Overall, this place is a nice gathering place for a casual outing with friends. This place is always busy with people trying out these new and extreme “concoctions.” I would definitely recommend trying this place out, especially if you are adventurous with your food (or with anything really). I’m not sure I would come back as often as I go to somewhere like Vendome, but I would come back. Based on my experience here, I would give this place a 3.25/5.

Though I’ve categorized it as a restaurant, I’d say it’s more like a cross between a cafe and a restaurant. Maybe a bistro? I’m not sure exactly what the right word for it would be. As with most of the restaurants and cafes I’ve been to in the Kensington area, this place is quaint and cute.

The first thing that struck me when I walked into the place was how empty it was. I had heard that it was on the pricier side, but if the food was good, I expected it to be packed regardless. We were promptly seated and given a chance to peruse the menus. Me being me of course, I had already looked at the menu before coming because one I take forever to decide on what I want and two because if the food doesn’t sound appealing to me, I don’t want to go. While the atmosphere of the place is quaint and cute, the food can only be described as comfort. The menu consists primarily of pies, hence the name, but they also have a variety of food that aren’t pies (cleverly headed as “not pies” on the menu). Our waitress started us off with drinks almost immediately. Julia ordered a coffee and I had a winter gold tea. Both came from local business in the area, mine from The Naked Leaf and Julia’s from The Roasterie (which was right next door). The Winter Gold tea was magnificent and fragrant. Not only were the colours beautiful, the sweetness of the tea was not overwhelming. With that out of the way, it was time to focus on entrees. My initial reaction to seeing a Mac and Cheese Pie was disgust and confusion. I couldn’t imagine something so starchy ever being enjoyable, but putting that aside I decided to give this a try (also, bacon lattice, like come on, even though I don’t like bacon that much, a bacon lattice sounds so awesome!). It was a strange combination and I didn’t end up eating much of the pie crust, but it was something worth trying. My friend Julia ordered the Boston Chowder Pie. That was one of the pies I had considered trying, but was concerned that the pie filling would be more like a clam chowder and be very runny, but I was wrong. It was thick and creamy and filled with a hearty helping of clams, bacon, and assorted vegetables all wrapped in a wonderful, flaky potato crust. Each pie comes with a choice of sides, I had the coleslaw and Julia had the butternut squash soup. The coleslaw was more acidic that I had expected, but it was a good counter for the richness of the mac and cheese. The butternut squash soup was served in a cup and in no way measured up to Vendome’s butternut squash veloute. For dessert, we decided to share a slice of pecan pie. I had been craving pecan pie for a while and unfortunately I was about to be disappointed. I had thought if the entree pies were any indication as to the size of their portions, there was no way that we could each get a slice of pie and finish it after having had the entrees. The pie itself was actually quite nice. Very butter and flaky crust and overall, it wasn’t too sweet. However, for $8, the size of the pie didn’t measure up. Next time I think I’ll give their mermaid pie a try.

I like this place for the fact that they help support some of the local business in the area and that there’s a place in Calgary where I can find comfort food for those days when you need it most. What’s also interesting is its address: 314. On the “About Us” section of their webpage, they point this out. The significance. 3.14 is of course Pi. Their menu is quite extensive and any of their savoury pies sound so delicious that I intend to return to try them all. It would be interesting to try out their breakfast ideas one day as well. Our waitress was very attentive and I can find little to complain about. However, as mentioned earlier, the prices can be a bit steep for some and the size of the pecan pie was disappointing. Other than that, I’d have to say everything else was perfect. 4/5